A captain in the Russian army, who had been sent as an exile for life to a small village in the north of Siberia,  俄军一名上尉被流放到西伯利亚北部的一个小村庄，

had a daughter named Catherine. She saw how unhappy her father and mother were,  他有一个女儿，叫凯瑟琳。父亲和母亲的不开心被女儿看在眼里，

and she resolved to go to St. Petersburg herself, and ask the Czar to pardon her father. 所以她决心一个人到圣彼德斯堡去请求沙皇饶过父亲。

When she told her father her plan, he only laughed at her;  当她和父亲谈起这个计划，他的父亲只是笑话她；

and her mother said that she ought to mind her work instead of talking nonsense. 她的母亲则说她应该把心思放在工作上，不要胡说八道。

"Here, my dear," said she; "dust the table for dinner, and then you may set off for St. Petersburg at your ease." “来，亲爱的，”她说；“擦好桌子，准备吃晚饭，吃饱了你才能轻松上路，去圣彼得堡。”

But neither her father's laughter nor her mother's sneers turned Catherine from her purpose;  但是爸爸的冷笑和妈妈的嘲讽都没有让她改变主意；

and after waiting patiently for three years she at length got her father to agree to let her go. 耐心地等了三年，她终于说服了父亲让她去圣彼得堡。

It was a terrible journey for a girl of eighteen to undertake alone.  对一个十八岁的女孩来说，一个人的旅途充满艰险。

She had to travel on foot for hundreds of miles, through vast forests and across dreary snow-covered plains.  她得徒步走上数百英里，穿过大片树林和白雪皑皑的大平原。

She had no clothes with her except the faded ones which she wore;  除了身上穿的已经褪色的衣服，她没有别的衣服；

all that she had in her pocket was a single silver rouble; but she had a brave heart, and unbounded trust in God. 她口袋里仅有一枚卢布硬币；但是她有一颗勇敢的心和对上帝的无限信任。

She met with the greatest hardships and dangers on her travels.  一路上，她遇到了极大的困难和危险。

Once she was caught in a furious storm, at the end of a long day's journey,  有一次，走了一天路的她遇到了一场狂风暴雨，

and had to take refuge from the wind and rain in a thicket by the way.  只能在路边的灌木丛里遮风避雨。

This gave her shelter for a time; but long before morning she was drenched to the skin. 这个地方只能藏身一时；但是还没等到天亮，她就浑身湿透。

At another time, she feared that the wretches with whom she lodged were going to murder her,  还有一次，她担心和她一起借宿的人想要谋杀她，

for the sake of the money which they thought she had.  夺取她的钱财。

It was only when they found that she had but a few coppers in her purse, that they let her go unharmed. 发现她钱袋里只有几个铜板后，他们没有伤害她，因此她毫发未损地离开了。

She was often driven from the doors of the rich as a beggar and a cheat.  她常常会在富人门前被驱赶，因为他们以为她是乞丐和骗子。

She was spurned by matrons who should have known better, jeered at by thoughtless boys and even attacked by dogs. 本来保姆应该更理解她，却对她冷眼相看，她还被无知的小孩嘲笑，甚至被狗攻击。